 |
Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 30 Minutes |
Ready In: 30 Minutes Servings: 5 |
|
A spin on a traditional shepherd's pie. A great way to get your kids eating some veggies with their mashed potatoes. You can also shape this into a bunny head for Easter, a skull for Halloween, a pumpkin for Thanksgiving, etc. Ingredients:
for mashed potatoes |
4 lbs potatoes (any kind) |
1/4 cup of milk |
2 tbsp soft butter |
salt and pepper to taste |
for filling |
2 carrots, shredded |
1 onion, chopped |
2 cloves of garlic, minced |
3 chicken thighs, boiled and meat pulled off the bone |
1 cup frozen sweet peas,defrosted |
salt, pepper and chicken seasoning to taste |
vegetable oil for sauteeing |
for decorations: 2 black peppercorns, a couple strips of sweet red pepper, 1 slice of bologna. |
for topping:1 cup cheddar cheese,or colby, shredded. |
Directions:
1. Make mashed potatoes. Peel, quarter and boil 4 lbs potatoes for about 20 min, or until soft. Drain water. Add 1/4 cup milk, 2 tbsp soft butter, salt and pepper to taste. Mash the potatoes. Do not add more liquid, as you will need to mold the potatoes.
2. While potatoes are cooking, boil 3 chicken thighs for about 20 min, or until no longer pink inside. Cool, pull the meat off the bones, discard the bones.
3. Make filling. Sautee onion and garlic in about 2 tbsp. of vegetable oil on medium heat for about 4 min, or until lightly caramelised. Add shredded carrots and cook for 4 more min, add more oil if neccesary. Stir in the chicken meat. Add salt, pepper and chicken seasoning to taste. Add sweet peas. Cook and stir for another minute.
4. To assemble, spoon 1/3 of your mashed potatoes onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Shape potatoes into a circle, forming slightly raised sides so it looks like a pie shell. Transfer the filling inside your circle. Spoon the rest of the mashed potatoes over top, reserving a little for the eyes, nose and ears. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Then shape eyes, nose and ears from your reserved potatoes.
5. Place peppercorns in the center of the eyes. Make a mouth using a couple of sweet red pepper strips. Top the nose with a slice of bologna.
6. Sprinkle with 1 cup cheddar cheese and bake in preheated 400F oven for about 20 min, or until the cheese is lightly browned.
7. I chose chicken for filling, because it's less greasy, but you can certainly use lean ground beef if you like. Just brown it till no longer pink and use beef seasonong instead.
|
|